Since the start of this year, I’ve been writing a daily journal on a separate part of this blog.
After I started writing the entries, I realised I didn’t want the boring task of creating the file in a specific directory, and creating the same title/header over and over again. So I added a tiny bit of automation.
Things Task
The first thing I did was to set up a task in Things, that repeated every day, simply to tell me to write my journal. After a while, I noticed that I would sometimes get very close to 12 before remembering about it. So I added a reminder for 11 pm, which gives me a bit of time to delay and still get it done in time.
Journal Template Shortcut
To take the hassle out of creating the initial file, I created a relatively small shortcut that creates the template and opens it in iA Writer.
I have a specific directory for my journal entries, and this keeps them all in one place.
It also uses the current date to create the filename and the heading for the post.
From there, it opens iA Writer, so I can jot down what I did in that day. And it’s ready to be published
You can download my “Journal Template” shortcut for reference.
Linking the Shortcut to the Things Task
While Things is useful enough to help me remember I need to write my entry, and the shortcut helps to create the initial file, I also linked these together.
I did that by adding a custom URL into the body of the Things task, so whenever it notified me, I could tap on the task and then on the link. It would then launch the shortcut, and lets me immediately start writing.
It also allows me to not starting right away, as sometimes I’m not in the best place to do it, or I just want to put it off a bit longer.
The url is quite simple, and is in the following format:
shortcuts://run-shortcut?name={name}
{name} is the name of the Shortcut, but URL encoded. You may be able to work this out yourself, but my app Text Case can also do this for you.
More Automation
After I finish writing my journal entry for the day, I then publish it to my blog. I use the built-in “New Draft on WordPress” share extension, which then opens the draft in Safari where I can add the category, and publish.
It’s a reasonably quick task, but something else I plan on automating. So in the near future, I will be creating another shortcut, that can take the latest journal entry and publish it to my blog using the specific category and time I like.